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An Ohio State blog for the Buckeye fan in all of us.Tue, 31 Mar 2015 00:10:12 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1tBBC Preview: Orange Bowl – Ohio State vs Clemsonhttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-preview-orange-bowl-ohio-state-vs-clemson.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tbbc-preview-orange-bowl-ohio-state-vs-clemson
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-preview-orange-bowl-ohio-state-vs-clemson.html#commentsThu, 02 Jan 2014 17:14:26 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=41297 Ohio State (12-1, 8-1, B1G) vs Clemson (10-2, 8-1, ACC) January 3rd, 2014: 8:30 PM EST ESPN Well, well, the Buckeyes get to head south for their bowl game rather than west. Oh well, it wasn’t our first preference, but let’s go Orange Bowling. The bowl game that we know as the Orange Bowl […]

Ohio State (12-1, 8-1, B1G) vs Clemson (10-2, 8-1, ACC)

January 3rd, 2014: 8:30 PM EST ESPN

Well, well, the Buckeyes get to head south for their bowl game rather than west. Oh well, it wasn’t our first preference, but let’s go Orange Bowling. The bowl game that we know as the Orange Bowl was inaugurated in 1933 as the Palm Festival. The bowl game was renamed the Orange Bowl and under the new name, the first game was played on January 1st, 1935 between Bucknell and Miami, won by Bucknell 26-0. From 1935 through 1988, this contest was known as the Orange Bowl. From 1989 – 2010, buttressed by corporate sponsorship, it was renamed the FedEx Orange Bowl. Moving from logistics to financial services, the game was renamed again in 2010 as the Discover (Financial) Orange Bowl.

The protagonists this January are the Ohio State University Buckeyes, Big Ten Conference (12-1, 8-1) and the Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference (10-2, 7-1). Both teams have a brief history in playing in the Orange Bowl, and have played one another. The Buckeyes enter this game averaging 46 points on offense, while giving up 21 points. The Tigers average 40 points on offense and 21 on defense. The early line is Ohio State -2.5 with an over/under of 67, so Vegas is anticipating both teams scoring in the mid-30’s. They are probably right. Look for a high scoring game. Without much further ado, let’s get into the preview.

Ohio State in the Orange Bowl

Ohio State is not a stranger to this game. Its previous contest was on January 1st, 1977 when the #11 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2-1) played the #10 Colorado Buffalos (8-3) from the Big Eight Conference. Colorado jumped out to a 10-0 1st quarter lead, then Rod Gerald led an offensive surge featuring TD runs by Jeff Logan, Pete Johnson, of course, and Gerald, himself. The OSU defense tightened to shut out Colorado after the 1st quarter, and the Buckeyes headed back home with a 27-10 win. Video courtesy of Vico, erstwhile of OHD.

Clemson in the Orange Bowl

Clemson has made three previous trips to the Orange Bowl:

1957; losing to Colorado, 27-21

1982; beating Nebraska, 22-15

2012; losing to West Virginia, 70-33

Ohio State vs Clemson

This game will be the 2nd meeting between Ohio State and Clemson. The first game was in the 1978 Gator Bowl, won by Clemson 17-15. It’s also remembered as the Hayes-Bauman Bowl, where Woody go fed up with Clemson’s shenanigans. The play-by-play was furnished by Keith Jackson..

Ohio State Scouting ReportI think we’re all pretty familiar with this team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Fortes: I see the strengths as a strong, fundamentally sound offensive line, quality depth and diversity in the running game, game-breaking receivers, a fairly solid defensive line and a top-notch punting game.

Foibles: Defensive back seven, the linebackers are talented but spotty and the secondary is a train wreck. The running game is somewhat inflexible in that with Miller at QB there is no option game due to his challenges with making reads. This takes away the element of indecision from a defense.

Oh, and to add to that? The team’s leading pass rusher is out for the game, their all-conference defensive back is not expected to play, and the middle linebacker has been hurt all season. At least the rest of the team has been health… what? There’s a 24 hour stomach flu that’s been going around during bowl prep? Awesome.

Clemson Scouting Report

Here is how I evaluate the Clemson Tigers:

Fortes:

Let’s not kid ourselves, the strength of this team is the play of QB Tajh Boyd. He has thrown for over 3,470 yards this season, completing passes at a 67% rate and averages 289 YPG. Tajh averages 31 pass attempts per game, so he’s not shy about passing. His TD/INT ratio is 29/9. As a complement, the Tigers run the ball 42 times per game at a decent enough 4 yards per attempt.

Foibles:

Clemson runs enough to ease pass pressure and to set up the play action pass; other than that, as often as they run the ball, it’s not much of a threat. Their defense gives up as many points, and about a dozen yards per game fewer than OSU’s, so although it may not be a foible, it’s not particularly a strength, either. Senior RB Rod McDowell (5’10”, 200) has contributed 80 YPG at 5.4 yards per carry.

As good a season as Clemson has had, they do have a mixed record versus top team this season. They opened the season by beating Georgia 38-35. Georgia was ranked #5 at the time, and currently at 8-4 is ranked #23. Clemson later got bomber by Florida State 51-14 and ended the regular season losing to South Carolina 31-17.

tBBC Staff Picks

I polled the tBBC Staff for their game predictions. We do manage to agree on a few things and this was one of them. Ohio State atones for their only loss in two years by winning this game.

Charles – Ohio State

Clair – Ohio State

Eric – Ohio State

Gary – Ohio State

Jason – Ohio State (starting to see a trend here?)

Joe – Ohio State

Ken – Ohio State (see below)

Mali – Ohio State

Patrick – Ohio State

Scott – Ohio State

WVa – Ohio State

My Pick

I’m picking the Buckeyes to bring home the bowl of oranges this year. Despite the fact that Ohio State’s weakness (secondary play) doesn’t match up well with Clemson’s strength (passing). I think that OSU gets back to its inside power running game, which really, no one has really stopped this year. This will gain yards, set up the passing/edge running game, score points and burn sufficient clock to limit Clemson’s possessions. On defense, we will be aggressive and creative, since there will be coaches who will/should be coaching for their jobs next season. Ohio State will eke out a nail-biting 38-35 win.

This game kicks off at 8:30 PM EST and will be broadcast on ESPN. Please join us here at tBBC approximately 30 minutes before kickoff for our LiveChat.

Trivia

One of Clemson’s backup QB’s is Chad Kelly of western New York. Chad is the nephew of all-time-great Buffalo Bills quarterback, Jim Kelly. Also, back when I was in the corporate world, Chad’s mother worked for me. A nice family.

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-preview-orange-bowl-ohio-state-vs-clemson.html/feed5Happy Festivus From tBBChttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/festivus-greetings-from-tbbc.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=festivus-greetings-from-tbbc
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/festivus-greetings-from-tbbc.html#commentsMon, 23 Dec 2013 13:54:52 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=41667It’s pretty great to be a Buckeye fan… we’re in the midst of a great two year run in football and multiple years of success in men’s basketball- our teams are major news story, and people even pay attention to what the former University president says and does. That being said… there’s still some grievances […]

]]>It’s pretty great to be a Buckeye fan… we’re in the midst of a great two year run in football and multiple years of success in men’s basketball- our teams are major news story, and people even pay attention to what the former University president says and does.

That being said… there’s still some grievances that need aired, so before we see if someone can pin Ken in the feats of strength, here we go:

What’s the thing about Ohio State sports that enraged you the most this year?

Jason:Wichita State and Michigan State ending dream seasons that were set up with what appeared to be cake-walk runs to a championship opportunity.

Joe Dexter: The one thing that bugged me most this year about Ohio State athletics was how the athletic administration handled some of it’s coaching changes during 2013. Many will argue about former girls basketball head coach Jim Foster, but the way it was handled was way off kilter in my opinion.

The one firing that made no sense to me was former head hockey coach Mark Osiecki. Athletic Director Gene Smith noted it was a “difference of opinion” that couldn’t be resolved. The program was on the upswing, was in the CCHA Semis despite being very very young, and had a ton of talent coming to Columbus despite always battling not having their own arena to call home.

I’m not saying that Steve Rohlik doesn’t deserve to be the head coach, but the whole situation was handled horribly.

Eric: Like just about everyone else, losing out on potential National Title runs to Wichita State and Michigan State. Both losses were incredibly painful to watch.

Patrick:Charging more for “Premium Games”. As a season ticket holder, I pa them enough and then they pull this BS!?!?

Scott: Both teams were set up nicely to make it to the championship game and defense let us down.

Mali:Ok, this may only tangentially “Buckeye-centric”, but I’ve got a lot of problems with you people. Not all of you, but there’s a few that just need to get a grip on reality. OSU has the biggest and best fanbase in the country, and a program that most fans would love to have… and yet, if you read message boards and so forth, you’d think that the Buckeyes were below .500 and had the most terrible coaches and players on the planet according to a small but vocal group of followers.

Some of this “selective listening”- we minimize positive media (since we agree), but every negative thing gets amplified and some fans either overreact to it or subtly internalize it in their critiques of the program.

But, at the end of the day, the chance to play/watch/enjoy collegiate sports is supposed to be a fun distraction. Let’s get back to making it so, shall we?

WVa:I would have to say that the play calling down the stretch becoming a lot like JT against Meyer in ’06 really got under my skin. Very predictable.

Charles: The disappointing performance of the OSU defense in football and the lack of improvement over the course of the season. This is tied with Gene Smith continuing to make decisions that are at best questionable; the top ones this year were the firing of a men’s hockey coach who had the program on the upswing and the refusal of an NIT bid for the women’s basketball team.

What’s the thing about college sports that was the most frustrating for you this year?

Feel free to take the day off work

Eric: Um. Did you fail to read the above? Fine, I’ll chose something else. The NCAA choking on its ability to act as a reliable source of “management” for College Football teams. Penn State, Oregon, Miami. The list goes on folks.

WVa:Almost every day we had a national media member on his pathetic soap box trying to chop down the football team. Then once they lost ohhhh now we respect you.

Scott:Connecticut women winning another basketball title.

Patrick: That players can leave whenever they want, but players are forced to sit a year if they transfer.

Mali: The continued facade that the NCAA throws up regarding their role in administrating semi-professional basketball and football. From the ineptitude in handling the “player likeness” lawsuits, to the forthcoming issues with concussion litigation, plus their bungling inconsistency of every single violation investigation/sanctioning issue, they are in way over their heads and continue to try to sell the same bill of goods. Add that to their unwillingness to attack academic issues like at North Carolina while the gulf between “Student” and “Athlete” grows wider at major programs shows how far they’ve come from their mission.

Ken: The blatant hypocrisy, across the board concerning amateurism/professionalism in collegiate athletics. The determination of what rules may have been broken and the meting of punishment should be an embarrassment to all involved. If the collegiate sporting structure has to be dismantled and reconfigured, then so be it.

Joe Dexter: The continuance of coaches using open jobs to get extensions. Mike Gundy to Nick Saban — now even the middle of the pack coaches are doing it. Schools are giving this coaches passes to do whatever they want. An athlete is getting paid a scholarship to play, yet a coach is getting 7 million dollars a year.

Jason: Easily the Jameis Winston investigation and hearing Tressel again say that he recruited “the state of Youngstown” in the 30 for 30 doc.

OK, let’s open this up. What other thing from this past year was the most exasperating?

Scott: Collapse of OSU women’s hoops program.

Charles:The OSU football team having to go to the Orange Bowl. The loss to MSU in the Big Ten title game was disappointing but it was still a great season and a BCS bowl bid is something to be proud of but the Orange Bowl is the antithesis of what college sports should be about as they try for a more professional environment at the expense of limiting the performances by the bands in the stands and completely eliminating them from halftime.

Patrick:The fact that the Reds let another season pass with Dusty Baker as manager.

WVa: Being a HS football and basketball official and working women’s lower college now, I have to say officiating as a whole in college and pro ranks has been mediocre at best. Their willingness to be lenient on a team because of success drives me crazy.

Great strength to weight ratio

Mali: The continued polarization of our national dialogue/debate/screaming match. We agree a lot more than we disagree, yet because it benefits multinational media conglomerates and special interest groups, we live in a constant state of “us and them” on various issues in ways that shield us from doing anything that resembles civility.

Jason: Duh, hearing that Orion Music and More will skip 2014 so Metallica can finish writing their new album. Though the new album is good…

Eric: The fact that people actually believe the college football playoff is going to solve anything at all. Nope.

Joe Dexter: Without getting on my crazy, “kids these days” soapbox, — seeing Miley Cyrus wearing some weird ass costume and swinging naked on some metal ball had more news coverage than what is really going on around us.

Ken: Ohio State having opportunities to potentially advance to Championship games in both basketball and football, and falling painfully short.

In case somehow you have this post is even more obscure than our usual fare, and you have no idea what we’re talking about, here’s the sacred text:

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/festivus-greetings-from-tbbc.html/feed1tBBC OSU HOF: John Cooperhttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-osu-hof-john-cooper.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tbbc-osu-hof-john-cooper
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-osu-hof-john-cooper.html#commentsTue, 13 Aug 2013 23:55:11 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=35787For this HOF Article, we revisit one I did in May of last year. One thing is for sure when you take over as the head coach at THE Ohio State University, you better know what it means to be an Ohio person. A lot of people believe Coach John Cooper got the top post at Ohio […]

One thing is for sure when you take over as the head coach at THE Ohio State University, you better know what it means to be an Ohio person. A lot of people believe Coach John Cooper got the top post at Ohio State back in 1988 simply because he beat TTUN in the Rose Bowl the year before while at Arizona State. Truth is he really probably got the job because of his history as a head coach and as a person.

John Cooper grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee in the 1940’s and 50’s. He went into the U.S. Army right out of high school for two years before playing college ball at Iowa State. People then knew he was going to have a special talent for coaching with his abilities on the field that eventually led to him being team MVP and captain his senior year. He stayed on as an assistant coach with the Cyclones before taking a similar position with Oregon State. He made stops at UCLA, Kansas, and Kentucky before landing his first head coaching position at Tulsa in 1977.

His first season with the Golden Hurricane was 3-8 but they became pretty good after that winning five straight Missouri Valley Conference titles. Tulsa was in and out of the MVC for a year and when they returned Coach Cooper had them loaded. He began to put together a system for how he would recruit players and used it to bolster his resume. In the Top 25 ranked season of 1982, Cooper and the Golden Hurricanes went 10-1 and their only loss on the season was to Arkansas. This same year that SMU had the Pony Express, Coach Cooper had himself two 1,000 rushers in Michael Gunter and Ken Lacy and was called the Palomino Express. Despite its ranking and great season Tulsa wasn’t invited to a bowl game. Coach Cooper had the makings of a top-notch coach and was hired to take over at Arizona State in 1985.

His impact was immediate at Arizona State, taking over for Darryl Rogers who left for the NFL and the Detroit Lions, Cooper finished second in the conference his first year. He won it outright his second season and it was one of the best in the history of the Sun Devil program having been only one of three times they have one the PAC10 title. In spite of winning records and defeating TTUN in the Rose Bowl, one thing that might have been overlooked was his record against ASU’s rival. Cooper was 0-2-1 against Arizona during his brief stay in the desert, something that would haunt Buckeye fans while he was in Columbus. That being said, he did something that only Bruce Snyder and Dennis Erickson have been able to duplicate with longer tenures there; win the conference title one time. Coach Cooper would be announced as the new head coach at Ohio State on New Years Eve headed into 1988.

His first season in Columbus wasn’t a very good one. In all honesty he was probably very lucky to survive it and win four games. He was replacing a very well liked and loved head coach in Earl Bruce. Mr. 9 and 3 as I have always called him was dismissed as the head coach prior to the game with TTUN in 1987. One of my favorite moments in all of sports is that those players wore head bands with the simple letters EARL for that game. Of course the lame duck coach defeated the enemy, which he had during his career. Coming in as quickly as Coach Cooper did was critical for his success. He wasn’t going to have a lot of talent left to work with, and like Luke Fickell this past year, what he did have been young and inexperienced. He wasn’t everybody’s first choice and he had to deal with a growing sentiment that I remember very well. “What does John Cooper know about being an Ohioperson?”

It took Coach a few years to start getting the players in that he wanted and get his system in place. Once he did, it was a well oiled machine that most teams feared playing with the exception of TTUN. By the 1993 season he had assembled one of the best rosters in the entire country and for the first time since Earl Bruce’s first season at the helm, the Buckeyes were contenders for the National Title. For the next six seasons the Buckeyes dominated the conference and non-conference schedule with the exception of TTUN. In 1993, 1995 and 1996 the Buckeyes were undefeated and poised to win it all and their seasons upended by TTUN. Rebounding with a victory over his previous employer and a #2 finish in the polls salvaged the ’96 season and left hope from the fans he would soon win it all. The victory over Arizona State gave him the distinction of being the only coach to win a Rose Bowl as a PAC10 and B1G coach.

In 1998 it was Michigan State that prevented the Buckeyes from enjoying and undefeated regular season and national title. The end of that season was really the beginning of the end for Coach Cooper’s tenure at tOSU. The next two seasons were dismal at best and he was fired after a loss in the Outback Bowl to South Carolina. Ryan Brewer, a Ohio product, torched the Buckeyes during the contest. This led to increased awareness from fans over the fact that a lot of the better recruits from Ohio were getting out and going elsewhere. It wasn’t that he wasn’t recruited by tOSU; it was that Coach Cooper didn’t get him and typically in state players play great against their home state team. Of course he was replaced with Jim Tressel who put up a fence around the state of Ohio and recruited nationally for needs.

Coach Cooper was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and very deserving of the honor. Most of what he did as a head coach should be honored. What he did do is give Buckeye fans plenty to cheer about during his time and had the program at some pretty high peaks. The biggest knock about Coach Cooper was that he couldn’t beat TTUN and was 3-8 in bowl games. Others would add that maybe he never really got what it meant to be an Ohio person. I will humbly disagree with the latter. I have seen a different man in the years since being fired from what is his last coaching job. Coach Cooper has great connections and friendships that were made from being at Ohio State. I for one can remember the looks on his face as those critical games with TTUN were slipping away. I have heard him say on more than one occasion that he loves Ohio Sate and what it stands for. And then there’s this statement he made to Matt Loede of 92.3 the Fan back in January.

Cooper also spoke about the issues the past 12 months at Ohio State, with the breakdowns with former head coach Jim Tressel, what happened there, and now the program hopefully coming back on the rise with new hire Urban Meyer.

“I thought coach Tressel was a great, great football coach, and I still think he is,” Cooper said. “I hate to see him go out like he did. He’s a good friend of mine, we’re gonna miss him. I think with Urban, no matter who coaches atOhioStateit’s going to win. He’ll never win enough games to satisfy everybody, but he’s a great coach and is gonna win.”

I personally believe that Coach Cooper knows what it means to be an Ohio person now. The proof is in his actions since being fired and his remarks today. He’s not out west supporting his alma mater in Iowa State, or being the AD at Tulsa. He’s enjoying life, living in the Buckeye State and supporting the school he loves, THE Ohio State University. A close writing friend of mine recently told a story about being a huge fan and having never been to Ohio Stadium. I loved his story because what you are able to do to be an Ohio Stateperson has nothing to do with how you become one. Being an Ohioperson is more of a state of mind and a belief in an institution that you love and how you represent it. I’d say that John Cooper, who is an Ohio person, gets it now and I am proud to have him call Ohio home. Fact is, he isn’t a Cyclone, a Golden Hurricane, or a Sun Devil. He is a Buckeye.

Coach Cooper is still currently working as a consultant for the Cincinnati Bemgals and makes occasional appearances on local TV supporting his Buckeyes.

Another Monday, another week. Grab your coffee and let’s get right to it. Before we begin, I want to wish a (some posthumously) happy birthday to:

Ralph Abernathy (civil rights)

Vannevar Bush (analog computer, Manhattan Project)

Helmuth JG von Moltke (Nazi resistance)

Rupert Murdoch (media mogul)

Lawrence Welk (band leader)

Shawn Springs (Buckeye)

I’m sure there are others, but we need to move on.

Football
Spring Practice began with a couple practices this week. Mali has some (Silver Bullet) points on it. The biggest take-away for me is that after the first day, Urban didn’t think the team looked like a “clown show”. Which he did last year, prior to the team going 12-0. If things have changed that much, I’m somewhat optimistic about this year.

The other item that caught my eye, was some prose by a fellow Big Ten blogger. He had little regard for OSU fans/commentators expressing their relief that Bollman left Purdue to take a better position at MSU. Evidently the source of his disregard is that “we (and he wasn’t clear if “we” were his fellow front pagers, Purdue fan base in general, etc.) don’t like Ohio State a whole bunch.” And then he goes on from there..

And, it took him 330 words so say that he didn’t care. Seriously. I get the (probably Freudian) antipathy towards All Things Ohio State. However, regarding the Purdue coaching staff, they do need to acknowledge their debts to Ohio State (Marcus Freeman), Muskingum University (Jon Heacock, brother of Jim) and both schools (Darrell Hazell).

As long as I’m on the topic, let’s not forget the Spielman Fund. Well, here’s another way to contribute to the fund this month.

Month of Giving this March to benefit breast cancer research at the OSUCCC – James. Throughout March, when you visit Jersey Mike’s, you can make a $1, $3 or $5 donation to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the register.

On March 27, plan lunch at any of the 14 Jersey Mike’s Subs locations in central Ohio and 100 percent of the proceeds from your order will benefit the the Spielman Fund.

Additionally, “Toward a Cancer-free World” is a partnership between the OSUCCC – James and WBNS-10TV featuring weekly segments with world-renowned experts from the OSUCCC – James. Each week, 10TV Anchor Tracy Townsend and OSUCCC – James CEO/Director Dr. Michael Caligiuri explore the latest discoveries to prevent, detect, treat and cure cancer.

Together, they share some of the world’s leading-edge research — all going on at The James, such as: the latest in cancer-fighting foods, how who you are influences what cancers you’re most vulnerable to developing, the latest in skin cancer-detecting technologies, and the most promising research studies going on right now.

Not much happening this past week; other than the Buckeyes taking down #2 Indiana @ Bloomington and finishing off Illinois to complete the regular season. To be honest, the team has been a treat to watch these past two weeks. Hopefully, this is a gelling of the team entering post season. The win got the #2 seed for Ohio State and a Friday late afternoon match-up. I’m sure we’ll have more on this over the next few days.

With a few more games yet to be played, I want to extend my appreciation to Evan Ravenal for his efforts and contributions to the program’s success. Although probably not the most physically gifted, you cannot dent his effort, energy and selflessness during his career at Ohio State. Thank you, Evan.

Women’s Basketball

The Buckeyes opened the Big Ten tournament facing off against Minnesota, which went quite well. They took on Penn State next, but the season came to an end as OSU just ran out of gas. Now, we wait to see how all this is interpreted by the NCAA selection committee.

Women’s Golf

The Buckeyes did not play this past week, but will play in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational on Mar. 12-13 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Long commute, but not a bad way to spend Spring Break.

Monday Melody

A bit of a reversal from last week’s song, where Mark Knopfler backed up Eric Clapton in Layla. This week, in Sultans of Swing it’s Clapton backing Knopfler in the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert. [Ed: Note. To my brother, yes I did think of Dad, Uncle Ed, Jim-Bob, Buke, Wolfie and Doc].

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/monday-musings-birthday-edition.html/feed6Improving the Game: College Football Rules Changes That I Would Like To Seehttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/improving-the-game-college-football-rules-changes-that-i-would-like-to-see.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=improving-the-game-college-football-rules-changes-that-i-would-like-to-see
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/improving-the-game-college-football-rules-changes-that-i-would-like-to-see.html#commentsFri, 22 Feb 2013 13:00:02 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=31670Last week I took a look at the proposed rule changes for the 2013 college football season. As those of you who read the article can probably recall, I wasn’t a fan of many of the major changes that were proposed. That doesn’t mean that I think the rules of college football are perfect; while […]

]]>Last week I took a look at the proposed rule changes for the 2013 college football season. As those of you who read the article can probably recall, I wasn’t a fan of many of the major changes that were proposed. That doesn’t mean that I think the rules of college football are perfect; while I do think the rules of the game are good as they stand, there are some changes that could be made to make the game even better. Today I propose a few of my own rule changes and talk about how they would improve the game.

Advancing Onside Kicks

The first rule I would like to see changed concerns what occurs when the kicking team recovers an onside kick. As the rule currently stands, the kicking team may not advance any kickoff that they recover, if the ball has gone the minimum ten yards the kicking team will take possession at the point where they recovered the ball while the receiving team may obviously advance any kickoff which they recover. The current rule creates an imbalance between the two teams in the case of kickoffs, or any free kick. The rules of a free kick consider any ball that goes at least 10 yards to up for grabs, able to be recovered by either team, yet what a team may do with the ball after recovery depends on whether they were the kicking or receiving team. By allowing the kicking team to advance the ball this would even out this rule disparity.

This rule change wouldn’t have a giant impact on the game as onside kicks are rare. In the 2011 season Division I-A college teams only attempted about 600 onside kicks, slightly less than one per game. Of those 600 onside kicks, only 31% are recovered by the kicking team, in other words one every three games. The number of times that this new rule would matter would be even less as most onside kicks end up in the middle of a pile of players where there is no chance for either team to advance the ball. Still, every now and then a team will execute a perfect onside kick that gives them the opportunity to advance the ball. Such a kick occurred in the 2009 game between Michigan State and Central Michigan where Central Michigan trailed by 1 with 30 seconds left. CMU executed one of the most perfect onside kicks, a high hopper that a CMU player snagged virtually in-stride along the sideline and then took off with for another 20 yards. Unfortunately the rule did not reward Central Michigan for this amazingly well executed kick, giving them the ball at the same point as if they had dug it out of the bottom of the pile. Central Michigan would go on to win the game so that ruling didn’t impact the outcome of the game but teams who can execute kicks like that should be rewarded. Check out the impressive kick by CMU in the video below, fast forward to the 1:55 mark.

Number of Challenges

As a high school football official I have a love-hate relationship with instant replay. I hate the criticism of officials that has resulted from fans and announcers being able to determine that a call was wrong after reviewing a play half a dozen times from a variety of camera angles in slow motion while the official who made the call had one shot, from one angle, in real time. I do however love the use of instant replay in game in order to correct calls that were made incorrectly due to the fast paced nature of the game of football; contrary to what many people think, the goal of officials is to get every call correct and anything that helps with that is a good thing. Overall I think the college football replay system is a good one. I like the booth official who rules on replays, this speeds up the process compared to the NFL system and has an independent official who had no part in the initial ruling making the call on the review; this eliminates any possible bias the on the field referee would have again overturning a call he initially made.

While the booth official does review every play, I like that the coaches can challenge a play if they feel strong that the initial call was incorrect and that the replay official just needs more time to see that. While the goal of getting every call right would suggest that coaches should get unlimited challenges, after all that would ensure that controversial calls get the most scrutiny, coaches would quickly abuse the system and challenge every play that went against them, slowing the game down to a crawl. Thus there needs to be a limit on the number of challenges but the current limit of a maximum of 2 challenges is too low. I would propose that the rule be changed to allow a coach to challenge as long as they have a timeout. If a coach is wrong in his challenge, he has stopped the game for a period of time, essentially he has called a timeout; this is why coaches currently are charged a timeout for losing a challenge. Allowing a coach to challenge as many times as he wants, as long as he still has a timeout, would lead to greater scrutiny of more plays while still making sure a coach only challenges on plays that he truly feels were called incorrectly, as opposed to hoping he gets lucky. If a coach is wrong on one of these additional challenges then all he has done is call a timeout, which he is entitled to do anyway.

Ball Position In Overtime

College football overtime is one of the most exciting things in sports. The two teams each get chances to score and keep going at it until someone comes out of an overtime period with a lead. While people can debate the merits of many rules differences between college and the NFL, overtime is clearly superior in college. Even with the NFL’s recent changes to its overtime rules, the winner of the overtime coin toss is still given a distinct advantage. A team can have an absolutely dreadful defense but if they win the overtime coin toss and their offense can score a touchdown, that doesn’t matter, they win the game without their defense ever having to take the field. In college that is not the case, both the offense and defense for a team has to take the field and both teams have an equal chance to score and to prevent the other team from scoring.

While the college overtime is superior to the NFL one, and has less of an advantage for the team winning the coin toss, the winner of the toss in college still has an advantage and in my opinion it is too big of one. The winner of the overtime coin toss in college almost always choses to go on defense first and they do so because their offense will then know what they have to do to win the game, or at least what they need to do to force an overtime. If the defense can force a turnover, then their offense barely needs to do anything and that team can win by just letting their kicker line-up for a 42-yard field goal, since overtime begins with the ball placed at the 25. While 42-yard field goals aren’t automatic in college, they are well in the range of the comfort zones for kickers on most teams in BCS conferences, and many teams from smaller conferences. This gives a much bigger advantage to the winner of the coin toss than they should get.

I would propose moving the ball back to the 50 yard line to start overtime while retaining all the other aspects of the current college overtime. Starting overtime with the ball at the 50 means that in order to score, an offense will actually have to do something, a team can’t just trot out their kicker for a not terribly difficult field goal. This will lessen the advantage of winning the coin toss because while the offense of the team that won the toss will know what they need to do, they will actually have to do something in order to win. Some people would argue that this would lengthen games because it would take teams longer to score from the 50. To those people I would say two things; first, who cares if it takes longer to score, the point of the game is to fairly determine the winner, not get things over as quick as possible. Secondly, I don’t think it would lengthen games by much because even though it would take longer to score, it would also be more difficult to score and thus I suspect the number of extra overtime periods that occur in some games would drop, canceling out the impact of a single overtime period being longer.

Overall I think college football is pretty good in terms of the rules of the game and there isn’t a sport that I enjoy watching more. Still, there are some tweaks to the game that can and should be made and I believe the ones that I discussed above would improve the quality of the game.

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/improving-the-game-college-football-rules-changes-that-i-would-like-to-see.html/feed6BBN Football LiveBlog: Miami Redhawkshttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/bbn-football-liveblog-miami-redhawks.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bbn-football-liveblog-miami-redhawks
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/bbn-football-liveblog-miami-redhawks.html#commentsSat, 01 Sep 2012 14:00:49 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=25865Welcome to the first BBN Liveblog of the new Football Season! The Buckeyes are set to take on the Miami Redhawks at Noon EST. The Liveblog will kick off 30 minutes before gametime. While you wait, check out the great members of the BBN: Our Honor Defend, Men of the Scarlet and Gray (Make sure […]

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/bbn-football-liveblog-miami-redhawks.html/feed0Ohio State Women's Football Clinic Draws a Crowdhttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/ohio-state-womens-football-clinic-draws-a-crowd.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ohio-state-womens-football-clinic-draws-a-crowd
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/ohio-state-womens-football-clinic-draws-a-crowd.html#commentsMon, 11 Jun 2012 12:00:36 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=24761In the past few months we’ve seen a number of examples of the OSU coaching staff reaching out to Buckeye fans in a number of ways. Most impressively was the inclusion of the students in the spring practices, and the active and exciting demonstration of drills with students. It seems to be hallmark of this […]

In the past few months we’ve seen a number of examples of the OSU coaching staff reaching out to Buckeye fans in a number of ways. Most impressively was the inclusion of the students in the spring practices, and the active and exciting demonstration of drills with students. It seems to be hallmark of this team to be ever more involved in the larger aspects of the OSU family, and that new tradition took another step forward this weekend.

On Saturday, the Ohio State Football team invited women to participate in a football clinic. The purpose of the clinic was two-fold, to help raise money for the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research, and to give the fairer members of the OSU fanbase a chance to gain a better understanding of the game. Over 700 women flocked to the event, which was clearly an instant hit.

Luckily for us, close blog friend Margaret participated in the clinic and willingly agreed to talk about the experience and share a few pictures with us.

tBBC: What was the purpose of the camp?

Margaret: The primary purpose of the camp was to raise money for the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research. So we not only learned football but we also heard from a cancer researcher, dietician and chef from the James Cancer Hospital. In their brief talks they did get the point across that diet and weight control / healthy lifestyle is important to keeping cancer at bay.

tBBC: What did you hope to get out of attending?

M: To learn more about football. People tell me I already know a lot but I never really thought I did, especially when in discussions with my husband and son. I wanted to know some of the finer details.

tBBC: What activities did they have you do?

M: There was a silent auction during the morning and a live auction after lunch to raise additional money for the Stephanie Spielman fund (part of our sign up fee went to the fund). The morning was pictures with Coach Meyer. Coach Drayton MC’d the day with help from his wife. The were very entertaining and a lot of fun. The morning consisted of various talks. Coach Fickell explained the basics of defense, Coach Herman explained offense (4 – 3 offense) and there also was an explanation on special teams. They used attendees to explain the positions and who stands where.

Urban took the time to get his picture taken with all the attendees.

Coach Marotti was responsible for our energy level and teaching us football cheers or more like noise used to pump up the players. My throat will be sore for several days as well as my legs for being taught the proper football stance and having to hold it for a while several times durning the morning. I’m pretty sure Coach Marotti was trying to hurt us so that we would never forget him. After lunch was the live auction and then the Graduate Assistants put a show on called Buckeyes got talent. Each one had picked a song to dance to and each one had chosen audience members to help out with the dance. That was fun very fun. Kirk Barton and Chris Carter (defense) had the best group in my opinion.

After the talent show half the group was touring the Woody Hayes Athletic Center while the other half was outside on the 100 degree practice field. There were stations with the various coaches to take us through a taste of what the different drills the players have to do. I must say defense is way more fun than offense (read: I’m not good on offense). We practiced creating fumbles, recovering fumbles, tackling, blocking, passing. One of the passing drills was to catch the ball, run to the 20 (end zone) and do a TD dance (I spiked the ball). So they worked fun into the drills for us.

They also made sure we drank plenty of water to keep us hydrated because of the heat. We certainly got a feel for what the players will be going through come August and we were thankful our day didn’t include the uniform with all that heat. We used the same equipment the players use while they are going through the drills. Coach Fickel taught me how to tackle and Coach Varbell taught me how to rush the quarterback. There were many other drills I did but I don’t recall who the coach was or the specifics of the drill. As long as I was hitting the dummies I was good!

After my group went in we got to tour the facility – which is an awesome place. They have made sure the players have a comfortable place to study and hang out besides to workout and practice. The weight room was impressive. FYI if you are ever in there do not step on the Ohio logo in the center of the room. Our tour guide let us know that will get us 10 push ups and him 20. Chris Carter should get special mention for putting up with all of us crazy ladies wanting to have our pictures with him by his locker. The hall way that contains the coaching offices has the most impressive display of OSU football history including Woody Hayes chalkboard. The day wrapped up with more cheers, races by age group and a surprise visit from the athletic band.

Surprise visit from the Athletic Band? Check

tBBC: Which coaches participated in the camp? Who were you most excited to meet/get coached by?

M: All of the coaches and grad assistants were there. They seemed to be having as much fun as the participants. I don’t think there was anyone I was hoping to meet but I was excited that they were all there and seemly happy to be there. I expected that Urban Meyer would say his opening remarks and then disappear but he was there for the whole day and was outside with the groups in the afternoon. He stayed involved all day. The coaches wives were also there and did get up on stage in the morning to introduce themselves and answer any questions.

tBBC: We’ve seen video of the coaches demonstrating drills to a crowd of fans and demonstrating a high energy and excitable personality. Were they similarly high energy with the camp?

M: Oh my gosh, these coaches are so high energy it is unbelievable. They have chemistry and energy. The work well together and seem to enjoy working together. If the players aren’t emotionally ready for a game it is the fault of the player not the coaches. These coaches are about excellence, winning and energy. They wanted us loud and pumped up. The rules for the day were: the M word is NEVER used, it is the school up north. No walking, hustle between stations or if called up to the stage.

tBBC: What was your favorite activity?

M: There was a very entertaining demonstration on the football uniform by Kirk Barton and Coach Drayton with help from Chris Carter. After Kirk put the uniform on then an audience member got to put one one. Cleats and helmet included.

tBBC: Did you have a good time? Would you do it again?

M: I had a blast. My throat is sore (yelling) and my legs are sore (football stance) but I would do it again in a heart beat! There was a lot of information, a lot of activity and I’m sure I’m forgetting more than what I’m remembering but what I do know is that it was beyond fun. No regrets not even the heat and I do hate heat but the day more than made up for that. My husband isn’t so sure about me going when I demonstrated a proper block on him.

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/ohio-state-womens-football-clinic-draws-a-crowd.html/feed6The Ohio State Roster and Stefon Diggshttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/the-ohio-state-roster-and-stefon-diggs.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-ohio-state-roster-and-stefon-diggs
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/the-ohio-state-roster-and-stefon-diggs.html#commentsFri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:23 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=22178Just yesterday the official Ohio State Athletics website posted an updated depth chart for the Buckeyes. There were some big changes, though many were fully expected. Of particular note were the losses of Jamaal Berry (cut for off-field issues) and David Durham (transfer to Pittsburgh). But the question that still lingers is the one of […]

Just yesterday the official Ohio State Athletics website posted an updated depth chart for the Buckeyes. There were some big changes, though many were fully expected. Of particular note were the losses of Jamaal Berry (cut for off-field issues) and David Durham (transfer to Pittsburgh).

But the question that still lingers is the one of Oversigning. Ohio State fans and media have been justifiably wringing their hands since the moment that Urban Meyer started recruiting like crazy. It’s not unusual around this time for Buckeye fans to worry about oversigning, particularly considering how badly they view the practice. To see the Buckeyes commit such an act would be incredibly shameful for nearly everyone.

Accounting for scholarships, though, is a tricky business. Whether a player has maintained their scholarship over the course of time, particularly if they’ve remained a walk-on, is hard to figure out. It’s also difficult to keep track of which walk-ons have managed to pick up scholarships during the course of time. Plus, the constant addition and subtraction of players through transfer and recruiting just adds another level of complication.

With the Buckeyes still hunting after one additional recruit, we have been told by Urban Meyer that there are currently 81 scholarship players on the team. Those numbers would leave one available scholarship in the 2012 recruiting class if his accounting is correct. Of course, there’s still a player out there that Meyer thinks could fill that spot.

Stefon Diggs, a Wide Receiver/Defensive Back recruit out of Maryland, is scheduled to announce his college destination this evening. Where he is going, currently a battle between Maryland, Ohio State, and Florida, has been a hotly contested topic of conversation on Twitter and college football recruiting boards across the country. Diggs would be a huge addition to any recruiting class, and would be the kind of significant playmaker that could see the field quickly in a big way.

As a public service, I have independently worked through the current scholarship situation for the Ohio State Buckeyes. You may recall that Bucknuts has already provided this service – but there is a horrifically glaring error in their analysis. Much like the motto of Oversigning.com, Bucknuts seems to think that 15+15+28+25 = 81. I’ll wait while you grab a calculator.

If you do the math, that actually adds up to 83 (see..you can tell by just adding the 8 and 5 of the last two numbers…well, you don’t care about the details). In other words, Bucknuts attempted to verify Urban Meyer’s numbers, counted up all of the individual classes, and then assumed what they were trying to prove. If only the world actually worked that way.

So did the Buckeyes actually oversign? Here’s my current list of scholarships by their year of playable eligibility as currently announced, and advanced a year. In other words, if you read through the current Roster, advance all of the Freshmen to Sophomores (except the early attendees), Sophomores to Juniors, etc. If you do that, you get the following table.

I have included Melvin Fellows and Scott McVey in this analysis. They currently remain on the roster, but it has been well understood that they will be granted a Medical Hardship this year - effectively ending their OSU playing careers. If you remove them from the numbers, as Bucknuts did, you end up with 83. For those keeping score, that’s two scholarships more than Urban Meyer has claimed.

Does that mean the Buckeyes have oversigned? By the definition that is supported by Oversigning.com, we have indeed. We currently stand at more scholarships than we are allowed to have for the following year after national signing day. That means that some players are going to have to be removed in some way in order to get the Buckeyes to the necessary 82 scholarships OSU has to be at by August.

And these numbers don’t even include Stefon Diggs – if he decides to become a Buckeye.

There’s one factor left to be taken into account. Even before signing day, we knew about the Medical Hardships for both Fellows and McVey, meaning that it was well known that those were available scholarships before the new recruits signed on. It was also announced that the Buckeyes would have between 3-5 transfers that had yet to be announced. David Durham may have been included in those numbers. Even if he was that puts OSU at between 79 and 81 players on scholarship after those transfers work out, well within safe territory.

Urban Meyer does things by the book. Period.

It’s critical to note that the coaching staff knows about these transfers, whether we as fans have been made aware of them or not. Urban Meyer is not a liar, despite what Florida fans might think right now. If he knows he currently has 81 scholarship players, I have no reason to disbelieve him. That’s especially true considering his feelings regarding oversigning, as our own Dave wrote about several weeks ago.

Do not forget as well that the Big Ten has much more substantial oversight on scholarships than many other conferences. They allow a team to sign up to 3 players above their 85 (or in OSU’s case, 82) scholarship limit, with specific documentation as to the exact circumstances that will be used to reach the appropriate scholarship limit. There’s no reason not to believe the Big Ten will bring the hammer down for any improprieties they discover, should they exist, in that documentation.

With the recent change in coaching staff, the Buckeyes are going through a serious transition phase. In other places where a significant change in coaching has occurred, especially when that has meant a big change in playing style, transfers to other schools become much more common than is usual in your average season. It is to be expected that several players will decide that they’re not cut out to play for Urban Meyer and that another school might be a better place for them to finish their career. Taylor Graham, a pocket-passer style quarterback, is one such player that has already made the decision to transfer to Hawaii due to his belief that he will never see the field for Meyer who prefers dual-threat quarterbacks.

The result of all this is that to claim Meyer has oversigned this year is an example of the Straw Man fallacy. While the numbers do seem to suggest that the Buckeyes are currently “over”, they have at least known for a while that several players on the list are planning on transferring and those transfers have simply not been announced. Oversigning puts coaches in a position where they have to force players to yield a scholarshipe against the player’s best self interest. If a coach already knows the scholarships will be available, even if the transfer has yet to be made officially public, it is not oversigning – unless the coach is using force to coerce action in his current players.

And that’s the real crime of oversigning: players are ultimately forced to yield their scholarship when it is not in their best interest to do so, but is solely for the betterment of the team as a whole – which comes in the guise of scholarships to new and better recruits. Forcing a player to give up their scholarship, failing to honor the commitments and promises you have made, rather than allowing them to decide for themselves is the real evil of oversigning. To fail to recognize the difference is to fail to understand the heart of the problem.

Morality cannot be viewed in a black box. An action cannot be judged while being disassociated from the conditions that caused it. It is just as important to identify the reasons a thing happens as it is to identify the action itself. If it someday comes to light that any player during Meyer’s tenure has actually been forced out to open space for another recruit, then I will be the first to accuse him of engaging in inappropriate recruiting. Until that time however I will judge him by what I see him do. At this moment, he has done nothing more than recruit scholarships that are not publicly free. If others wish to accuse him of oversigning on the basis of a lack of publicly available knowledge, that’s up to them.

If Stefon Diggs selects the Buckeyes this evening, expect the oversigning questions to become louder – not only from the national media, but from Buckeye fans themselves. The best check of the system possible is to ask the tough questions and expect answers. It would be great if Meyer can provide an answer now, but until the player announces it himself FERPA may tie Meyer’s hands. We will just have to wait to find out the whole story.

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/the-ohio-state-roster-and-stefon-diggs.html/feed29Keys to Victory: Nebraskahttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/keys-to-victory-nebraska.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=keys-to-victory-nebraska
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/keys-to-victory-nebraska.html#commentsThu, 06 Oct 2011 10:25:52 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=18358Do I think the Buckeyes can win on Saturday night? Yes, I always think the Buckeyes can win. What changes for me is how likely I think that outcome will be. For most games, my level of confidence in a Buckeye victory is very high. This week… not so much. The reason for my extreme […]

Do I think the Buckeyes can win on Saturday night? Yes, I always think the Buckeyes can win.

What changes for me is how likely I think that outcome will be. For most games, my level of confidence in a Buckeye victory is very high.

This week… not so much.

The reason for my extreme pessimism centers almost exclusively on offensive coordinator Jim Bollman. His performance last Saturday was the sad culmination of a decade’s worth of built up frustration stemming from his bumbling mismanagement of the offense.

My faith in his ability to put together a coherent, much less effective, game plan was utterly destroyed once and for all, and it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel while Jim Bollman is still on the staff.

Regardless of what happens for the rest of the season, getting a new offensive coordinator in 2012 is absolutely essential no matter what the head coaches name ends up being.

I still have faith in the players. The Buckeyes have some of the best talent in the Big Ten.

Unfortunately, when the offensive coordinator calls slow developing pass plays that require five offensive linemen to block seven pass rushers while the QB stands in the pocket waiting for receivers to get open 20 yards down the field over and over again; well, talent can only take you so far.

(And as an aside, let me say that the poor pass protection against the Spartans was NOT the offensive lines fault given that the scenario I outlined above was standard operating procedure throughout the entire game. Everyone railing against the offensive line needs to find another scapegoat for the pass protection problems; his name is Jim Bollman and his play calling put the entire offense in a no-win situation the entire game regardless of the level of individual or group performances.)

If Ohio State continues to squander its talent on offense under Jim Bollman’s leadership, the game against Nebraska and the rest of the season will not be pretty.

Here are my keys to the game.

Keys on Offense

Mildly Coherent Game Plan

Jim Bollman discovered last week that throwing random plays together with no rhyme or reason does not an offensive game plan make.

Given his inability to make a single adjustment in response to what the Spartan defense was doing, my faith in his ability to miraculously come up with something mildly workable this week is depressingly low.

We can only hope…

Rhythm and Focus in the Play Calling

Mixing up run plays and play action passes rather than just running one or the other over and over. Passing the ball successfully before running a draw play rather than running draw plays over and over again without even pretending that you might be thinking about passing.

Or just not run a draw play at all…ever again.

These tweeks from last week’s game plan would be pleasant surprises

Something- ANYTHING, to Counter the Blitz

Every team left on the schedule and for the rest of time will be bringing a heavy blitz until the Buckeyes prove it doesn’t work marvelously against them.

NEWSFLASH: molasses slow play-action draws are not the proper response to a defense that is bringing multiple blitzers on every single play (once again, this type of idiocy in the play calling takes the blame for sacks off the line and the QB and places it squarely on the person in charge).

Everyone not named Jim Bollman has known about this for a long time, but hopefully now he is fully on board with this very basic football concept.

Quick passes, screen passes, rolling the quarterback (you know, the one that is good at running, not the slow one) out of the pocket? Yeah, maybe we can try one of those things this time around instead.

Keys on Defense

Score Points

Jim Bollman has a ten year track record at Ohio State which indicates the chances any of the offensive keys happening are very small.

With an offense hampered by the incompetence of the guy calling the plays (once again, NOT the players’ fault), the defense will need to step in and score some points.

Pick sixes, scoop and scores, safeties; all of these things would be greatly beneficial to the team’s chances of victory.

]]>http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/keys-to-victory-nebraska.html/feed1tBBC Radio Hour: Akron Preview and Matt Sussman Interviewhttp://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-radio-hour-akron-preview-and-matt-sussman-interview.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tbbc-radio-hour-akron-preview-and-matt-sussman-interview
http://thebuckeyebattlecry.com/college-football/ohio-state-football/tbbc-radio-hour-akron-preview-and-matt-sussman-interview.html#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 14:00:27 +0000http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/?p=17250The Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour returns with our first 2011 game preview! Eric chats Akron with Jim and Joe, along with how we feel the team will fair in their first game without Jim Tressel. They chat about the defense, and about the pessimism Jim feels regarding the offensive line. After that, Eric is […]

]]>The Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour returns with our first 2011 game preview! Eric chats Akron with Jim and Joe, along with how we feel the team will fair in their first game without Jim Tressel. They chat about the defense, and about the pessimism Jim feels regarding the offensive line.

After that, Eric is joined by Matt Sussman, Editor of Hustle Belt, SB Nations MAC blog. Matt discusses Akron, including their prospects for this upcoming season, along with his thoughts on their offense and defense. We end by discussing the prospects for the entire MAC this season, along with a fearless prediction of who will be MAC Champion.

All this and more on this week’s tBBC Akron Preview!

Also, don’t forget that you can subscribe with us on iTunes! Just look up “The Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour” and you’re sure to find us. With what we have planned for this season, you don’t want to miss a single show!